i did a search to see if anyone had posted how to remove double-sided tape body trim and all i found was removal tips for trim with pegs.
so my question is how to safely remove the trim from my truck without damaging the paint. do solutions like "Goo" work, or will that harm my paint?
thanks for any input.

 

I've got an idea, but you'd have to be CAREFUL. I would try warming the trim up with a heat gun, by holding the gun a reasonable distance away. You obviously don't want to blister the paint, but want to warm the trim and the adhesive up enough to get it to release. My experience with the black trim mouldings is that, with applying gradual waves of heat from a distant gun, the trim will warm up (and retain the heat) so as to allow it to release. If you can do this with patience, you shouldn't heat the paint enough to do any damage. After removing the trim, removing the leftover adhesive from the paint should be easier (the local body supply store should carry something good for it.)

 

Yep,
restorit got it just right.
Take - your - time!
If you get impatient (like me),
you will screw it up.(I didn't,only because I had someone telling me to go slower!)

Good Luck,
Don

1973 F250 3/4 ton Custom
390 .060 over w/428 inside (422?)
Edelbrock Performer intake
Holley 4160 carb
14" K&N Filter
True Dual Exhaust
and more to come.

 

wow!!! that sounds really risky...especially since i have NO experience doing something like that! do you not think that if i found the adhesive remover like restorit mentioned, i could just pour it on and wait until it soaked in?
or is this just simply not going to work?
what would happen if i just pulled it off? think the paint would come off with it?

 

Check with your local body supplier. I recently went to a salvage yard and removed all of the trim off of a '91 F150 by simply pulling it off. I'm quite sure the paint was original, so it was probably unlikely that it was going to just pull off (and it didn't), and the only thing left on the truck was the adhesive afterwards. I hear your concerns. If the supplier can recommend something to soak into the trim before attempting to remove it, go for it. Just be absolutely sure that this won't weaken the paint, as you wouldn't want to be applying force in pulling a moulding off when the paint underneath it had been saturated with an unfriendly solvent. My heat gun method, if performed with care, should be no more damaging than leaving your truck parked in the hot summer sun and then trying to remove the mouldings in the early afternoon. My only point in using the heat gun with care is that the things do get hot. You can probably use a hair dryer (tell your wife you're taking it in the garage to tune it up for her! ) if it makes you more comfortable. It won't heat up as quickly or as intense (and it will take longer), but it will be more forgiving. The basic idea is just to warm the moulding. Don't get it (or the surrounding paint) overly hot, or anything, just warm it up good. And, FYI, if you're removing one of the black (with chrome insert) mouldings off of the '87 - '91'ish F-trucks or Broncos, you do need to know that these have a thin metal strip between the moulding and the double-sided tape, which will need to be removed before reinstalling the moulding on a truck. (If you don't, the moulding will never lay flat against the surface). This, too, will require heating the moulding while using a pair of pliers to peel the metal strip away. The new double-sided tape will then be applied to the backside of the rubber moulding, itself, without reusing the metal strip.

 

thank you so much for the explanation!!! and FYI.....im a girl...there is no wife on this end!!! no hard feelings...i was laughing as i read it!

from what i gather about the thin metal strip and all, what i had in mind is probally not going to work. i just wanted to remove the "chrome" and black strip that ran the length of the truck because i think it would look better without it all together. if i was successful in removing the trim and adhesive, then i assume there would be holes or some other imperfection left underneath the trim. i was assuming that the trim could be cleanly removed and i would just be left with a solid green paint job without any trim. i never intended to remount new trim. guess i should have made that clear in the first place!!!

if this is not possible, just let me know and i'll have to live with the plastic "chrome" look!
thanks so much

 

My apologies for the wrong assumption! You know, I DID think about that, and figured my little joke had a 50% chance of hitting the correct gender. It also had a 50% chance of being incorrect, also, as is obvious. So much for that, huh? Thanks for not taking me too seriously!

Anyway, I'm curious..... what year truck are you working with? If it's an '87 or newer, then the mouldings are attached with the double-sided tape, and there are no holes or otherwise to be left in the body. The metal strip I was referring to is simply made into the moulding, but has nothing to with the way in which it is attached. Ford simply used it as a sort of backbone, which works well on the mouldings when they are new. Once they have been bent, however, the strips must be separated from the mouldings, as they'll never lay flat again.

This won't affect your project if you aren't planning to reapply them. As mentioned in the above posts, with care you should be able to remove them along with the adhesive. Check to see what's commercially available as a remover before doing the deed. I tend to agree with you on the truck looking better without them, however, keep one thing in mind. Your truck does become more vulnerable as a target without them. Every shopping cart and car door will seek out that body line along the lower side. After I had mine repainted, I really didn't want to put the mouldings on it. It took all of three weeks to get a parking lot ding on the exposed edge, which made me decide to put them back on.

 

thanks for all the help restorit. i guess i should have been more specific in my original post about what it was i exactly wanted to do.

FYI my truck is a 1994, so my idea will work as planned. good advice on the parking lot dings...something to think about before i decide to take off the trim for good.

luckly, my uncle owns a body shop, so if i do take off the trim and get a ding, he can probally fix it up for me....only thing is it's a 5 hour drive to get to his shop in louisiana.

i'll try to post some pictures when i get it done so that everyone can see what a WONDERFUL job this little ole' gal did on her truck!!!!

i am thinking of using a simple hand-held torch at a safe distance to heat up the trim if i can't find a commercial adhesive remover. any easier ways you can think of besides the hair dryer?

let me know, otherwise thanks for the help again.

 

What would be perfect for the job, and safer than the torch but more effective than the hair dryer is a heat gun. These look a lot like a hair dryer, but put out considerably more heat. The glory of these is that the heat is blown out (like a hair dryer), so it can be directed where you need it, as well as back and forth to prevent any one area from becoming too hot. These are fairly easy to find in the home improvement shops (Ace Hardware, etc.) and sell for around $15 - $25.

Wagner makes a product called the "Power Stripper" which is essentially used as a paint removal tool. It is nothing more than a heat gun. The uses of these are endless.

I don't know what you'll come up with on the chemical end, but I've successfully used rubbing alcohol and pure ammonia to remove window tint before (no fun). These may be paint-friendly (though I'm sure they'd strip wax), but there may also be a better product on the market.

Good luck. Use care and I'm sure all will turn out fine. Let us know when you have some pictures posted in your gallery!

 

go to the hardware store and in the department for drywall stuff get a cheap scraper... NOT a metal one but the really cheap plastic ones. get the softest ones (white) and get a few in different sized cuz they're really cheap and can chip.

i used this on my old car in high school. mind you the trim was already coming off and i was doing the paint again anyway. i used the scraper and a spray bottle with some wd 40 to slowly pry off the trim. i guess that body shop stuff would work even better but all i had was wd 40 and my sister's nail polish remover. just keep spraying that stuff in there to loosen up the old glue as you pry it off (yes slowly!!!!!) with the scraper. you can also wrap a shop cloth around the blade and soak it with the solvent stuff when it doesn't want to give. be careful pulling on the trim too... you don't wanna pull it directly away from the car at a 90degree angle cuz this can leave kinks in it. just take your time and it will give and don't drop it on the ground cuz then stuff will stick to it.

ps.. i know the chilton manual says never to do this but this tool was also good for cleaning out the old gasket crud when i changed my thermostat.

 

 

We have been having this problem in the trade for years. Someone finally made a spray that will remove the tape and glue. See your body supply store for help.